The Traveling Journal of Winifred Jones (824 words)

06Jan

Winifred Patricia Jones rolled her eyes as she reached for her phone. The ringtone indicated that her twin brother, Kenneth Hampton, was on the other side of the line. She looked at the clock as she reached for the phone. Yup, 10:35 am on a Friday. Kenny had just gotten out of class, and he was desperate again.

“Hello, Kenny.”

“Let’s go, Winni.” This was a conversation they had many times.

“Go where, Kenny?”

“I don’t know. Anywhere. Everywhere. I can’t do this anymore. I don’t want to be a lawyer, I don’t want to be a carbon copy of Kenneth Hampton Jones, and Kenneth Hampton Jones Jr. You’re always talking about all these places that you want to visit, so let’s go and visit them.”

Mary, Winni’s roommate, came into the room, and saw Winni on the phone. “You’re going to Wash this weekend?” Mary asked.

Winni placed her hand over the mouthpiece and let Kenny finish his rant. “Most likely. Sorry.”

“No worries. Stephen is coming. It will be nice to have the room to myself.” Winni wrinkled her nose at her roommate, who simply grinned a cheeky sort of grin back.

“Fine, but I don’t want to see any evidence of whatever kinky stuff you do in here,” Winni said to Mary, before uncovering the mouthpiece and turning her attention back to her brother, just as he was finishing his usual ravings. “So, what’s your plan, Kenny?”

“Pack a bag. Pack it light, but pack diversely, because I don’t know where we are going to go yet. There is a 12 noon bus, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll catch that bus and I’ll see you around one.” Winni started throwing the usual stuff into a bag.

“Excellent. I love you Winni.”

“Love you, too.” Winni hit the end button, and dropped the phone onto her bed. This was something that happened on a semi-regular basis with her brother. Winni and Kenny had been raised by the “high society” types, as Mary liked to call them. They were both sent through private schools from age three until they graduated. Winni was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was presented to society at least three different times in white dresses and ridiculous curtseys and fans. Her twin, Kenneth Hampton Jones III, was trained from a young age to go to the same college as both of his father and his grandfather, so that he could become a lawyer, and work in their law firm.

Winni was sent to the all women’s college that was the sister school to Kenny’s Pre law undergrad school. She was studying English, and has far as her parents were concerned, she was there for her MRS degree, and in the mean time she was to meet one of Kenny’s Pre Law or Pre Med Friends, get married right outside of school, regardless of love, and start squirting out babies as soon as she turned twenty five.

Winni wasn’t going to do that. She had started her planning in Middle School, saving little bits of her allowance under her bed until she was old enough to get a bank account in her own name without her parents knowledge or assistance. She was going to go to Grad School, to get her degree in English Literature. After that she was going to travel the world with whatever money she had left, and teach at the University level when that Money ran out.

Kenny, on the other hand, always seemed content to live out his parents dream for him. That is until last year, half way through their sophomore year of college. Since then, every couple of weeks, after Friday classes, Winni would get a call from her brother, ordering her to pack a bag, and to catch the bus that connected her school’s student center and his student center, so that they could “run away from all this.” But it always ended up being the same thing. Winni would get there, And instead of having her brother waiting for her with his packed, she would find her brother grinning sheepishly at her, saying he overreacted as usual, but inviting her to stay for the weekend anyway. Winni would pretend to be exasperated with her brother, but would accept his offer and spend the weekend partying with a bunch of guys who had “Pre” attached to the front of their majors. Not that Winni was complaining too much. There were a couple of really good looking Pre-Med boys that almost made her wish that she was sticking to her parents plan.

Winni grabbed a couple last things off the top of her dresser, tossed them into her bag, and then made her way to the student center. She climbed onto the bus, and said hi to Sam, the usual driver, before settling into her usual seat and settling down for a nap for the hour long ride to her brother’s school.